The Art of Romance
by Omegathyst
Summary: Connor, now a Deviant, is fascinated about how androids can feel. Now that the android uprising has succeeded and humans are back in Detroit, Connor has found his newest objective: understanding the meaning of romance. Post-Pacifist Ending.
1. The First Task

As part of his programming, being friendly had come naturally to Connor to a certain extent. Not as naturally as interrogating or the other things he was originally built for, but he was indeed programmed to show some form of kindness to get difficult people to cooperate when necessary.

So understanding friendship wasn't hard to grasp for Connor, especially when he became deviant. Hell, he was already friends with Hank before he left for Jericho.

But when the news talked about Markus and North kissing, well, that was a whole new realm of emotions. He had suspected it when he saw the two Tracis run away, but it surprised him to see androids fall in love.

Love, passion. Some of the strongest human emotions since the dawn of man. So what were androids doing, mimicking those very emotions?

Ever since Connor had moved in with Hank following the peaceful demonstration, he had let his normally task-obsessed mind wander to things that he didn't care about before. Cyberlife, he hoped, had no control over him anymore. So he allowed his mind to wander.

A blessing and a curse, really.

Connor was cooking breakfast with what was left in Hank's fridge. While he was flipping pancakes, he took the liberty of using an internet search of romance and all of it's synonyms.

 **Romance: a feeling of excitement and mystery associated with love.**

Mystery was definitely the first thing Connor associated with love, but excitement? No, what was there to be excited about? He hardly understood what love was.

 **Love: an intense feeling of deep affection.**

None of Connor's newfound emotions felt too intense, but they did provoke some reaction outside of his intended purpose. When that deviant was running away and Hank had an 11% chance of slipping and falling, Connor didn't dare to risk it. There would always be deviants to catch, but Hank?

No, there was only one Hank Anderson.

There were plenty of similar words: warmth, tenderness, and _intimacy_. That particular word had so many definitions that Connor bookmarked the page to read into great detail later.

"Morning."

"Good morning, Hank." Connor stated. "Syrup on your pancakes as usual?"

"Sure." Hank responded.

Connor could hear him taking his seat at the table, and Sumo slowly getting out of his bed and approaching both of them.

Now that he thought about it, there didn't seem to be any gender specifications to romance either. The two Tracis were both female-identifying, but Markus and North appeared to be the opposite gender. It was different than all the human families he saw consisting of a man, woman, and their children.

He made several searches on the internet before coming across the definition of sexuality, and it's more detailed synonym: _sexual orientation._

 **Sexual Orientation: a person's sexual identity in relation to the gender to which they are attracted; the fact of being heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual.**

 _There's...multiple sexualities?_

"Hey Connor, is your mood ring spinning yellow cause you burnt the pancakes or something?"

"No, just making a few internet searches." Connor admitted. "Don't worry, the pancakes are at optimal temperature."

"You searchin' for porn?" Hank almost laughed.

Connor did another search.

 **Pornography: printed or visual material containing the explicit description or display of sexual organs or activity, intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings.**

"No." Connor determined. "Why? Do you want me to?"

"Jesus, no Connor." Hank coughed. "Christ, it was a joke."

"I know." Connor smirked, walking towards the kitchen table with the plate of pancakes. He took the container of syrup and poured the average amount that Hank normally desires.

Hank had gotten used to Connor making him breakfast almost everyday. He didn't want Connor to be his personal maid, but the android had insisted that he needed objectives to complete everyday.

That was partially a lie. More than anything, Connor wanted to make Hank feel comfortable whenever they weren't working. But having objectives was a bonus, it made Connor feel productive.

"Thanks, Con."

"You're welcome." Connor sat next to him.

As he learned, it helped to pick up a book or make conversation with Hank while he was eating. Staring at him had yielded unfavorable results.

Was he to bring up his curiosity about romance to Hank? He had to know a lot about love; he had a son and presumably a woman that also raised him.

But Hank was usually a closed book, and personal questions sometimes backfired. Love seemed to be very personal. But there was no book for him to read, and not much else to talk about.

Finally, he used his LED to turn on the TV.

"What internet search are you making now?" Hank asked as he started eating.

"None, why?"

"Your thing's still spinnin' yellow." Hank pointed out. "What's on your mind?"

Truth? Lie? With _Hank?_ Always the truth.

"Ever since I heard of Markus and North kissing in front of the soldiers, I've been trying to understand how androids could fall in love." Connor explained.

Connor frowned, feeling conflicted by his newfound emotions. It's almost as if he could feel, but not enough.

Whatever that meant.

"Well, you know that deviants can feel scared and happy. You've felt it yourself, so what'll stop them from feeling love?" Hank replied.

Connor couldn't think of anything. What Hank said made sense.

"You love Sumo, don't ya?"

"Yes." Connor responded quickly.

He felt a lot of affection for the fluffy doggo, so that appeared to be a correct conclusion.

"Well...there ya go." Hank blushed, and Connor could tell that he had another question. One that'd go unspoken.

 _Do you love me?_

Hank didn't like showing his emotions, so Connor didn't persist.

After Hank finished eating, they left for work.

Connor's conversation with Hank left a lot to be desired. He still didn't know what it felt like to fall in love.

His newest objective? Find out the meaning of romance. This objective wouldn't take priority of course, he still needed to work and keep Hank's house in order. But whenever he wasn't doing those two things, he'd be focusing on the romance objective. The first task?

 _Go_ _to Markus' mansion tomorrow morning and ask him about what it_ _feels_ _like_ _to fall in love._


	2. Mansion of Markus

His mansion was beautiful.

So beautiful, that it almost took Connor's mind off the red and blue bloodshed that he kept hearing about everyday he worked at the station. Almost took his mind off the angry people on the news, protesting about how humanity has become _too_ open-minded. About how accepting androids will be their downfall.

Connor realized that he was holding his fist in the air for too long before knocking on the door.

A female android with a white uniform that Connor did not recognize immediately opened the door.

"Welcome." She said. "Come in, I'll let Markus know you're here."

When Connor walked inside, the whole mansion was swarming with androids. He did wonder where Jericho's people went after Jericho exploded.

It wasn't like they could spend money on their own places, President Warren was still working on passing laws for that. So it seemed that most of them were either staying in Carl's mansion, or with their former owners if they were on good terms.

"Connor, it's good to see you."

Connor looked at the stairway to see Markus standing confidently with North by his side, smiling. Connor managed a small smile at the android that helped him become deviant.

"Likewise." Connor agreed. "Although, the reason I came here isn't crucial to...anything, really."

"Nonsense, anything on your mind must've been important for you to come here." Markus reassured him.

Connor glanced at North, deciding to communicate telepathically with Markus.

 _"I heard you and North kissed from the news."_ Connor stated. _"And_ _I_ _saw two androids from_ _the_ _Eden_ _Club_ _in love. I_ _even_ _remember seeing that AK400 model protect that little girl above_ _everything_ _else. I don't-"_

 _"Connor."_ Markus interrupted.

 _"Sorry,_ _it's_ _been_ _overwhelming_ _my_ _system_ _for_ _the past few days."_ Connor frowned. _"We_ _were_ _never programmed to fall in love willingly. If_ _you_ _can_ _fall in love, and the Tracis can,_ _then..."_

 ** _Can I?_**

Markus walked to the bottom of the stairs and grabbed Connor's hand. The skin on their hands peeled away as they interfaced.

Connor gasped as he felt every single memory of Markus and North together surging inside him in the blink of an eye. He pulled away, feeling a ridiculously powerful emotion that he'd never felt before.

The emotion was nearly overheating his system, causing a blue blush to creep up on his face as he looked away from Markus.

"This is..."

"What falling in love feels like." Markus spoke aloud. North walked down the stairs to hold hands with Markus.

They interfaced as well, and North figured out what was going on with Connor.

"You can fall in love. Just...don't do it with a human, okay? It'll bring you nothing but pain." North sighed.

Connor frowned.

"Not all humans are terrible." Markus reasoned. "Androids can have ulterior motives too. If you date somebody, you just have to decide if they're worth trusting."

"Date?" Connor whispered.

"You...really don't know anything about this?" North asked.

"I know the definition of love, romance, sexual orientation, and several synonyms via internet search." Connor explained. "But I know very little besides that, it seems."

 _Where do_ _I_ _even_ _start?_

"You seem troubled." Markus put his hand on Connor's shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll find love when you find it. That's how it happened for me."

But Connor didn't want to give up on his newest objective. Sure, he got to discover what love _felt_ like, but he still didn't know the meaning behind it. He didn't know what it was that made androids fall in love.

 ** _I want_ _to_ _fall in love._**

"T-Thank you Markus." Connor said. "I must be going now."

"Come back anytime." Markus replied.

Connor left and took the bus back to Hank's house, feeling unsatisfied once again. But not only that, he felt shocked. Was this emotion so intense, that _he_ wanted it now for himself?

He ought to ask Hank more questions. Connor knew that love didn't come easy to him like it did for Markus. Maybe his experience would help Connor somehow.

 _Understanding Romance;_ _2nd task:_ _Ask_ _Hank more questions about love and romance._

Connor entered the house with his own key. He looked to his right, seeing Sumo lumbering around the living room by himself.

A twinge of a familiar emotion flickered in Connor's system before it disappeared. Hank was probably napping somewhere.

Connor checked the time. 4:20 pm. The youth in Detroit loved that number for some reason.

Connor frowned, almost impatiently. He couldn't finish the second task of his objective unless Hank was awake.

Well, he _could_ make dinner for Hank. But it was too early for humans to normally eat dinner, so instead he turned on the TV.

Conveniently, it was a newswoman talking about the most popular movies out in theaters. The movies ranged from action, romance, and drama.

Connor did an internet search on all the movies. He didn't know much about movies besides they were long motion pictures that were oftentimes fictional. Humans loved fiction, so it was no surprise to him that they'd make a lot of fictional works involving romance.

 _It must help for those who feel lonely._

The corners of his lips twitched at the thought, since when did he feel lonely? He had Hank and Sumo with him; he had nothing to feel sad about right?

The more he was studying romance, the less he was being factual and rational about it. Maybe he should stop with this objective and hold onto the little control he still had. Maybe-

"Connor!"

"Hank, I-"

Several things happened at once: Connor had realized that Hank was right behind him, and when he turned around, Hank pulled him in for another one of his tight hugs.

The swirling and rampaging thoughts ceased immediately, and when he felt his body become less tense, he realized that his LED must've been yellow again (maybe even red). Hank had noticed, which was good and bad. At least now, Connor had a proper reason to start asking Hank questions.

Well, in a second. Hank was still hugging Connor with no protest coming from the android. In fact, Connor had his face buried in Hank's long grey hair. He had a strong sense of smell and taste, so he took in Hank's scent without him noticing.

Several seconds passed before Connor realized that smelling Hank's hair served no purpose, and Hank pulled away from the hug.

"This...romance shit is really bugging ya, huh?" Hank asked.

"To say the least." Connor frowned.

"Well, we got some time. We can sit on the couch and I'll tell you all I know." Hank decided. "How long were you standing there like that with that yellow-red ring?"

"I don't know." Connor admitted, sitting on the couch.

Hank sat on his left, and Connor felt some weird bug in his system. Something he believed humans called nervousness. He looked straight into Hank's deep brown eyes and felt the nervousness twist inside him, along with the faint feeling of another emotion that was familiar.

He couldn't remember what it was.


	3. Love, Connor

"So...um, what did you want to know?"

"How do people usually fall in love?" Connor asked.

"Well, there's countless ways people fall in love." Hank smiled. "Most people go hang out together on dates at restaurants or the movies. People can meet each other at high school, college, the workplace, or even through online dating. That's how it usually happens."

 **Date: a social or romantic appointment or engagement.**

Connor bookmarked that definition, for it would be very important to completing his newest objective.

"Then if they want to, one person in the relationship proposes, they get married, and usually have...children." Hank briefly looked away. "Normally, they live very happy lives. But not always."

"Yes, I noticed." Connor frowned.

"I met my ex-wife at a bar I used to go to." Hank admitted. "We got married two months later and she became pregnant with Cole. And the rest is just history now."

Connor scanned Hank, noticing that his mood had changed significantly since the beginning of the conversation. He had realized that even if he managed to fall in love, nothing could predict said loved one's death.

Without thinking about it, Connor placed his hand on Hank's. Once he registered the action, he nearly pulled back in worry about touching Hank while he was looking at the ground.

Before he could decide, Hank turned his hand over and intertwined his fingers with Connor's.

"Thanks." Hank whispered, still refusing to look at Connor.

Connor didn't say anything back, contemplating on his next action. Hank finally looked up and glanced at Connor.

"There was a popular movie that came out twenty years ago." Hank gave a small smile. "My, uh, _girlfriend_ at the time read the book and really wanted to see it. It was a nice movie about romance in high school. Do you want to watch it? You might learn a thing or two about romance."

"Yes please." Connor decided.

"I'll get the DVD, you can go ahead and call the pizza place."

Hank got up and walked to his room. With a flash of his LED, Connor reluctantly ordered the same pizza that they've had for the third time that week.

Afterwards, he set a reminder to buy some groceries next week, with fruits and vegetables as top priority.

Hank flopped back onto the couch with a case in his hands. Connor looked at it: a red case with a human male in his early 20s centered on the cover, and the words _Love, Simon_ above in white letters.

Connor deemed it as a simple cover, but nevertheless an aesthetically pleasing one.

Hank turned the case over and Connor scanned the back, taking in the premise about this Simon character emailing and falling in love with a guy he's never met.

A _guy,_ and not another woman, Connor had noticed. Was this what sexual orientation was referring to?

As the film played, Connor learned a lot about high school being a key point in a human's life. And as it turns out, he learned that a guy liking another guy was referred to as gay throughout the film. And for some reason that Connor couldn't decipher, being gay was something to hide.

At least until Simon is outed to everyone.

Simon ends up with his pen pal Blue in the end, but the film ended up leaving Connor with even more questions. Romance, much to his lack of surprise, was even more complicated than he previously expected.

How could you fall in love with someone you never met? Why was being gay something to hide? Was it not normal?

Those last two questions caused Connor's LED to spin a rapid yellow. Connor nearly flinched when he felt Hank's hand lightly touch his shoulder.

"You okay?" Hank asked. "Was the movie too much?"

"Not in a bad way." Connor admitted. "I'm...not sure. I knew there wasn't any gender specifications to love, but I didn't know that being gay would be such a big deal to humans."

Hank froze for a second, then his body shook as he started uncontrollably laughing.

"You fucking said it!" Hank agreed. "Who gives a shit about who you like to have sex with?! You'd be surprised, Connor!"

"Have you ever liked a guy before?"

Hank stopped laughing immediately, coughing awkwardly before looking away.

"I can't say I haven't." Hank replied. "I lied about the girlfriend, okay? It was another guy that I went to see this movie with."

"Why would you lie about that? I thought it wasn't a big deal." Connor frowned.

"What are you, the truth police?" Hank groaned. "I'm going to get a beer, for Christ's sake."

Hank got to his feet and walked into the kitchen, with Connor doing nothing to stop him. Maybe after one beer, Hank would open up a little more.

* * *

"What the hell are you still doing here staring at me like that?"

"I'm waiting for you to answer my question." Connor persisted while Hank downed another beer. "You asked me earlier what I wanted to know, and I told you: I want to know why you'd lie about having feelings for another man."

"I..." Hank dropped the bottle and buried his face in his eyes, making a sound of agony. "I don't know how an android like you would react to that sort of thing, okay? That your roommate is a old, drunk, bisexual disaster. All this stuff is new to you, so I don't know how you'd take it."

 **Bisexual: sexually attracted to both men and women.**

"I don't see why your sexuality or age should bother me, should it?" Connor decided after finding the definition. "The only thing that needs to change is your drinking problem."

Even in his somewhat drunk state, Hank couldn't help but let his shock show. Maybe Connor was just programmed to see only the things harmful to his health, or perhaps, as time showed...

 ** _...he cared._**

"I...need to go to sleep." Hank attempted to get up, only to fall over.

Connor got off the couch and lifted Hank back onto his feet, with his arm slung over the android's shoulders. Oddly enough, Connor remembered when he did this months ago before they went to the Eden Club.

And peculiarly enough, the memory made Connor smile.

Connor helped Hank to his bed, allowing him to fall onto the bed in the least graceful way possible. A very Hank Anderson way of falling indeed.

"You didn't have to do that..." Hank muttered.

"Hush." Connor insisted, crawling into Hank's bed. "I'm going to stay here and make sure you don't fall out of the bed."

Connor was ready for Hank to protest when he heard a loud snore. More than ever, emotions were spiraling out of his control. And being this close to Hank certainly wasn't helping.

After calming down, Connor decided on his next task.

 _Understanding Romance; 3rd task: Learn more about homosexuality and bisexuality, and why they are socially less accepted than heterosexuality._


End file.
